"Old General!"

Cao Rui shouted, with tears in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, General Zhang has gone..."

The doctor at the side said softly.

At the end of April in the sixth year of Jianxing, Zhang He, the left general of the Wei state, died of his injuries. The Wei Emperor wept over him and gave Zhang He the posthumous title of Zhuang Hou.

At the beginning of May, Emperor Cao Rui of Wei appointed Cao Zhen as the governor of Guanzhong, and then prepared to carry the coffin himself and return to Luoyang.

At this moment, Cao Xiu sent a message from Guandong: Soochow and Zhou Li made a secret agreement to surrender all the counties, and at the same time, he also leaked Soochow's military secrets to the Wei Dynasty.

Soochow Wu took advantage of the opportunity of the Shu captives to invade Longyou, and wanted to use the strength of the whole country to divide the troops into five groups to attack Jianghuai and Jingzhou. Your Majesty, please decide as soon as possible.

After Cao Rui read the memorial sent by Cao Xiu, he was furious on the spot.

These two captives from Shu and Wu are really abominable. Do they really think that there is no one in the Wei Dynasty?

He thought about it, but for a while, he couldn't think of a countermeasure, so he called Sun Zi and Liu Fang over to discuss it.

Sun Zi pondered for a moment and then spoke first, "Your Majesty, if the news of Wei's defeat at Longyou reaches Soochow, Sun Quan would like to take advantage of this opportunity, which is indeed in line with Soochow's style of taking advantage of others."

Cao Rui nodded, his brows furrowed at first, and then suddenly opened, with a hint of joy on his face, "So, in this way, Zhou Yi's decision to surrender the county is really sincere?"

Sun Zi looked at Liu Fang.

Liu Fang then said, "Your Majesty, whether it is true or not, we just have to see if the Wu invaders really raise their troops and march north as Zhou Li said. We cannot say so easily now."

When Cao Rui heard this, his face looked a little disappointed.

The three of them discussed for a long time, but they were not sure whether Zhou Li was sincere in surrendering, so they had to first let Cao Xiu and Sima Yi pay attention to the unusual movements in Soochow.

After Sun Zi and Liu Fang left, Cao Rui returned to the palace, and the chamberlain said that Cao Zhao was here to see him.

Cao Rui didn't have any scruples about Cao Zhao, and immediately told him everything in detail, and then asked, "Chang Si, what do you think about this matter?"

Cao Zhaonai was the son of Cao Xiu. He had already received the letter from his master, and immediately advised him, "It is indeed difficult to tell whether this matter is true or not, but if it is true as Sun Zi and Liu Fang said, it is not right to just stick to it."

"Oh? If Changsi has any ideas, please tell me quickly."

Upon hearing this, Cao Rui asked quickly.

To be honest, if they don't know what's going on in Soochow, that's it. If they learn that Sun Quan intends to invade, the Wei Dynasty can only stick to it, which is not what Cao Rui wants.

After all, how could the young emperor, who dared to go to Chang'an personally as soon as he heard about the invasion of Shu, to swallow his breath easily?

"Your Majesty, Sun Zhongshu Ling and Liu Zhongshu Superintendent are old men who have experienced three dynasties and are experienced in their work, so they naturally feel that it is important to stick to Jingzhou and Yangzhou first."

"But your Majesty must not forget that the military situation ahead is urgent. If everything needs to be reported, it will take at least half a month to go back and forth."

"The matter of surrender is secret, and the time is uncertain. If Zhou Li really comes to surrender one day, and we have to send news back and forth like this, I'm afraid that before His Majesty's decree comes, Zhou Li will have been captured by Sun Quan! Wouldn't it be a missed opportunity?"

Although Cao Zhao superficially said that Sun Zi and Liu Fang were mature, his words actually implied that they were too conservative.

Seeing the hesitation on Cao Rui's face, Cao Zhao continued, "Your Majesty came to Chang'an in person, and now that Longyou has been defeated, I'm afraid some of the courtiers will look down upon you."

"The soldiers of Soochow are not good at land warfare. If they can really get help from Zhou Li, Your Majesty will definitely be able to annex Jingzhou and defeat Sun Quan. What is the shame of Longyou?"

This sentence made Cao Rui's heart skip a beat.

Five months ago, instead of making the Yu family his main wife, he made his concubine Mao family his queen. At that time, some people were already talking about it in private, not to mention the words of the Yu family that "chaos starts from the top, and the country is in trouble."

Not only in the aristocratic family, but also in the royal family, some people felt that it was inappropriate to establish Mao as the queen.

Xia Houxuan, the son of Xia Houshang, not only ridiculed Empress Mao's younger brother, but even refused to sit with him, which was really annoying.

Now that Longyou is defeated, those people may take the opportunity to say that they have lost their moral integrity. I am afraid that the Hedong family represented by the Yu family will be very happy, right?

As Cao Rui thought about it, he felt more and more that this possibility was very high.

Although Zhang He's final plan can temporarily divert the attention of the world, after he is buried, someone will definitely mention the loss of Longyou in the future.

If you want to completely cover up Longyou's defeat, the best way is to prove yourself with a big victory.

Thinking of this, Cao Rui finally nodded and said, "Changsi is indeed my close friend."

"In the past, the late emperor and Sima Yi got along well with each other. When the late emperor went to the east, he entrusted Sima Yi to take charge of the affairs in the west. When the former emperor went to the west, he entrusted Sima Yi to take charge of the affairs in the east."

"Today I can also learn from the late emperor and make the Grand Sima General take charge of the affairs in the east and have exclusive authority over the military affairs of Soochow."

When Cao Zhao heard this, he quickly fell to the ground and said, "I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"

Cao Rui helped him up and said with a smile, "Sima Yi is just a foreign minister, and the late emperor could treat him like this. What's more, Cao Xiu is a member of the royal family. After three dynasties, he has been the mainstay of the family, and he is the one who should be trusted.

"
Chapter completed!